The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to sensors used for sensing physiological parameters of a patient.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of medicine, doctors often desire to monitor certain physiological characteristics of their patients. Accordingly, a wide variety of devices have been developed for monitoring many such physiological characteristics. Such devices provide doctors and other healthcare personnel with the information they need to provide the best possible healthcare for their patients. As a result, such monitoring devices have become an indispensable part of modern medicine.
One technique for monitoring certain physiological characteristics of a patient is commonly referred to as pulse oximetry, and the devices built based upon pulse oximetry techniques are commonly referred to as pulse oximeters. Pulse oximetry may be used to measure various blood flow characteristics, such as the blood-oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood, the volume of individual blood pulsations supplying the tissue, and/or the rate of blood pulsations corresponding to each heartbeat of a patient. In fact, the “pulse” in pulse oximetry refers to the time varying amount of arterial blood in the tissue during each cardiac cycle.
Pulse oximeters typically utilize a non-invasive sensor that transmits light through a patient's tissue and that photoelectrically detects the absorption and/or scattering of the transmitted light in such tissue. One or more of the above physiological characteristics may then be calculated based upon the amount of light absorbed and/or scattered. More specifically, the light passed through the tissue is typically selected to be of one or more wavelengths that may be absorbed and/or scattered by the blood in an amount correlative to the amount of the blood constituent present in the blood. The amount of light absorbed and/or scattered may then be used to estimate the amount of blood constituent in the tissue using various algorithms. This determination may be performed in a monitor coupled to the sensor that receives the necessary data for the blood constituent calculation.
Some sensors may be capable of application to multiple placement sites on a patient's body. For example, sensors may be placed on a patient's forehead, a patient's digit, etc. To determine the amount of constituent based on the sensor data, the monitor coupled to the sensor may use specific algorithms for each placement site and sensor configuration. However, some monitors may not include the calibration data for such sensors. Additionally, older monitors may be incompatible with multiple configuration sensors and may not include calibration data or the ability to select calibration data based on the sensor configuration and/or placement site.
Certain aspects commensurate in scope with the disclosure are set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of certain forms of the disclosure might take and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure. Indeed, the disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects that may not be set forth below.
In one embodiment, there is provided a system having a monitor, a sensor, and a sensor connector. The sensor includes a sensor body having a first configuration adapted to be applied to a first tissue site and a second configuration adapted to be applied to a second tissue site and is configured to measure a physiological characteristic. The sensor connector is coupled to the monitor and the sensor and includes a first memory device storing a first set of calibration data, a second memory device storing a second set of calibration data, such that first memory device is accessible by the monitor in the first configuration and the second memory device is accessible by the monitor in the second configuration.
In another embodiment, there is provided a sensor connector for a medical sensor having a first memory device, a second memory device, such that the first memory device is electrically accessible in a first configuration of a sensor coupled to the sensor connector and the second memory device is electrically accessible in a second configuration of the sensor.
Another embodiment includes a system having a sensor and a sensor connector. The sensor includes a sensor body having a first configuration adapted to be applied to a first tissue site and a second configuration adapted to be applied to a second tissue site and is configured to measure a physiological parameter. The sensor also includes a first conductive trace disposed within the sensor body, wherein the first conductive trace is intact in the first configuration and broken in the second configuration. Additionally, the sensor includes a second conductive trace disposed within the sensor body, wherein the second conductive trace is intact in the first configuration and broken in the second configuration. The sensor connector is coupled to the sensor and includes a first memory device coupled to the first conductive trace and a second memory device coupled to the second conductive trace, such that the first memory device is electrically accessible in a first configuration of a sensor coupled to the sensor connector and the second memory device is electrically accessible in a second configuration of the sensor.
Another embodiment is provided that includes a system that includes a monitor, a sensor coupled to the monitor, and a sensor adaptor coupled between the monitor and the sensor. The sensor comprises a sensor body having a first configuration adapted to be applied to a first tissue site and a second configuration adapted to be applied to a second tissue site and is adapted to measure a physiological parameter. The sensor also includes a memory device storing a first set of calibration data for the first configuration and a second set of calibration data for the second configuration. The sensor adaptor includes a processing circuit configured to provide the first set of calibration data to the monitor in the first configuration and provide the second set of calibration data to the monitor in the second configuration.
Yet another embodiment includes a sensor adaptor that includes a processing circuit configured to provide a first set of calibration data from a sensor memory to a monitor for first configuration of the sensor and provide a second set of calibration data from the sensor memory to the monitor for the second configuration of the sensor.